April Fool?

Contributed by John Garner, Secretary (01.04.2007)

I couldn't get there in time for the hatch on Saturday - but it would have taken something serious to have stopped me on Sunday.

I parked at Musgrave Bridge around noon and walked up to the run above the church and barely had time for a sandwich and coffee before the first duns appeared at 12.20. But with a downstream wind blowing the few fish
that rose obviously hadn't been told that 'fast food' usually means somewhere like MacDonalds.

I gave it a shot with the nymph on a NZ dropper again (I learned to fish with a stick float and centre pin before anyone makes that comment!!!). I gave it the best part of an hour and managed one at 10 inches and two missed takes. All three to the nymph.

By now the wind was becoming a bit of a pain to say the least and I went up to Hen House Corner in search of a bit of comfort. It wasn't a wasted walk.

I spent the first half hour or so, with more lunch and coffee, watching a constant trickle of three species of upwings coming down and nothing moving until fish number two finally showed itself a couple of times. Despite
being comfortable sunbathing on the gravel I couldn't resist it.

A few casts later this one was attached to the nymph and performing aerobatics. At 15 inches this one was almost a twin of last weeks fish and, apart from a well worn bottom edge to its tail (hopefully, as a result of cutting redds last winter), was as fit as they come. It was photographed, measured and promptly released to do the same again next winter.

By 3:30 I was back in the car. How them brownie points are stacking up!!

Just as a word of warning, the area around Hen House Corner has changed quite a bit over the last winter. Be careful where you step off the bed rock - you could end up swimming. And the fish holding spots may just have changed - but I'll leave that for you to work out!!